A variety of hangers for the hanging of plural garments is presently known, the garments being typically companion parts of a given outfit, e.g., the jacket and trousers of a man's suit or the jacket and skirt of a woman's suit. The hanger conventionally has a main or body part with a hook portion for the hanging of the hanger from a support rod, the body part further defining a central opening bounded in part by a cross-member. The body part receives and support the first grament and the cross-member receives and supports the second garment. In widely known such hangers, the cross-member supports the second garment simply by passing the same through the central opening in overlapped relation to the cross-member.
More interactive such hangers for plural garment support are known, wherein the second garment is positively supported by engagement of an end thereof by biased jaw members associated with the cross-member. One such more interactive hanger construction is seen in Esposito, Jr. U.S. Pat. No. 3,292,223, entitled "Integral Snap-Action Clips" and issued on Feb. 20, 1966. A snap-hinge is employed in the support of such second garment from a hanger, as is shown in FIG. 7 of the '223 patent wherein the cross-member of the hanger is ensnared within the snap-hinge jointly with jaw member engagement of the second garment. An advantage, other than the positive retention of the second garment, resides in that the hanger and snap-hinge attachment may be separately shipped and inventoried. However, applicants herein see a disadvantage in the '223 patent hanger in that the snap-hinges become readily separated from the hanger proper once a customer opens the snap-hinge, such as when removing the second garment to try it on or to more closely inspect it.
In the invention of the '212 application, applicants provided improved such more interactive hangers for the hanging of plural garments, particularly of the type employing snap-hinges for the hanging of such second garment.
In the '212 application, applicants provided, in combination, for the hanging of plural garments, a hanger having a body portion for hanging a first garment, the body portion having a central opening and a hook portion extending outwardly of the body portion and a cross-member bounding the central opening; and snap-hinge units, each in the form of an integral body for the hanging of a second garment and comprising first and second jaw members for releasable retention of the second garment, a snap-hinge selectively operable for biasing the first and second jaw members into such retention of the second garment in one state thereof and for biasing the first and second jaw members to release the second garment from such retention in a second state thereof, and detent structure for securement of the snap-hinge units to the cross-member, irrespective of the state of the snap-hinge.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the cross-member of the '212 application is configured for facilitating both assembly and release of the snap-hinge means therefrom when desired. To this end, the cross-member defines a track along its periphery having a discontinuity, the track being matable with the detent structure to effect such securement of the snap-hinge units to the cross-member, such track discontinuity being effective to permit joinder of the detent structure and the cross-member and release of the detent structure from such joinder with the cross-member.
More specifically, in such preferred embodiment, the cross-member is elongate, the track discontinuity is of first longitudinal dimension, and the detent structure has a first dimension substantially equal to the track discontinuity first dimension. The cross-member exhibits a second, lateral dimension between its outer surfaces bounding the tracks and the detent structure includes a slot of substantially such second dimension of the cross-member. Further, the detent structure defines an opening into the slot substantially equal to a lateral dimension of the cross-member at the track discontinuity. As is discussed in detail in the '212 application, and also covered hereinafter, such mutually-related dimensions of the cross-member and the detent structure of the snap-hinge units facilitate joinder and release thereof.
The hanger assembly of the '212 application relies fully for garment retention by the snap-hinge units on the retention force available from plastic material. While this arrangement has been found fully satisfactory for relatively thin garments, and like matter of limited thickness, applicants have found that the use of such assembly with relatively thick garments or matter can give rise to some measure of difficulty. By way of example, applicants have observed that a thick garment hung from the above-discussed snap-hinge unit will be adequately retained. However, when the garment is removed from the hanger assembly, as by removal from the snap-hinge units, the latter may exhibit a "set" open stance, wherein the jaws remain spaced from one another by essentially the thickness of the garment removed therefrom. An indeterminate time period need expire for such set to disappear and for the snap-hinge unit to recover to its initial retention capability.
A different approach to such more interactive garment hangers is seen in Blanchard U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,750. Blanchard employs a unit applied to the cross-member of a plural garment hanger of clothes-pin type. The jaw members of the unit have a leaf spring of generally inverted U-shape straddling them and biasing the jaw members into intensely biased engagement of character which would not exhibit the set open stance above discussed. Various other such biased units are to be seen in Coon U.S. Pat. No. 3,456,262, Bisk et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,838 and Coon Des. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 212,444.
In the Blanchard, Coon and Bisk et al. patents, the hanger cross-member is ensnared within the jaw members and, to assemble the clip unit with the cross-member, it is necessary to overcome the leaf spring bias to force the cross-member to its position within the jaw members. Further, the spring must have bias capacity for two purposes, namely, for maintaining the jaw members with the cross-member and for retaining a garment with the cross-member.